Games with good "Detective Mechanics"

[Zombra]

it says a new case is coming, probably as dlc. will it be paid or free? who knows
there is nothing about a "sequel" if there was an actual full-game sequel don't you think they'd have announced it by now?

I do not. Did you read the article? The devs are weird theatrical guys and what they did is not the move of a slick marketing team. Remember how they promoted their first game? They basically didn't.

Do you remember the title of the first game? In case you forgot, it's called "The CASE of the Golden Idol". If another CASE is coming, what does that imply? An extra snapshot (which you think they would call a CASE for some reason) added as a part of the original CASE? Or would it mean ... not that? Use your head, detective.

 

[Modron]

Remember how they promoted their first game? They basically didn't.

They participated in a number of next fests, were active on twitter, every other adventure game developer was singing praises of it as well, so I don't doubt that they reached out to tons of game journalists who probably deigned to pass on covering it like Vault Dweller and Colony Ship. The demo was 2 of the cases and on either the first or second next fest so upwards of a year before release and very solid so you would think more press would have been jumping on board with it after that.

 

[Zombra]

Well shit, maybe y'all are right. I still think a new case implies a new game. Maybe 4/27 will just be the first announcement.

 

[Neuromancer]

I just tried the demo for Keyword: A Spider's Thread and immediately bought the game. It seems like a fairly linear "search the emails, find the passwords" kind of thing but there are some really neat ideas up front in the demo which I won't spoil. Demo took me about an hour according to Steam? Seemed like a lot less!

I just finished the game and have kind of mixed feelings.
Game time was 4-5 hours for me.


The first 2,5 to 3 hours (which probably include the demo, which I haven't played) were really, really great. The way you got information and hacked your way into the accounts was fun. Of course the "hackings" behave often more like puzzles than realistic hacking procedures - but for this kind of game it was fitting.

Than at some time in late game, when you reveal some special information, suddenly you are thrown into a kind of "dream" sequence (without spoilering anything), which is really strange and doesn't fit the beginning of the game at all IMO.

At the end (besides some easy finishing puzzles), the game introduces a few action events/puzzles with time limits. Normally these wouldn't be a big problem, but the slightly janky controls and the huge area to search make these more annoying than necessary.
Very slight spoiler:

Spoiler

Even with the clock ticking, for the final puzzle you have to wait for quite some time, but than only have one or two seconds to react. If you fail, you have to repeat this puzzle with the waiting part again.

TDLR: Not a bad game. Starts great, but then shifts tonally to something different at the end. Ending action puzzles are slightly annoying.
If you are into deciphering clues, search E-Mails, texts and images for information and also sometimes like to think out of the box - this game might still be something for you.

 

[rolandstones]

Has anyone talked about 2000:1 A Space Felony yet? I think it ticks a lot of boxes that people here are looking for, and the only complaints I have is that its a little too easy/short. Still, for the low price of free, its a solid 1 hour romp for anyone who likes games with solid detective mechanics.

The main plot of the game can be described as 'Obra Dinn, but in space.' You are sent to investigate a ship whose crew are all dead, to determine if the ship AI is to blame or not. As you might expect from the game title, the AI loves lying to you, and its your job to use evidence to disprove the AI's statements.

Mechanics-wise, you can access the whole map from the start, and you can use your camera to take pictures of anything. There's no pixel hunting bullshit because the game is heavily stylized, and important subjects are very noticeable. As you take pictures, you automatically ask the AI about them, and when you notice something off about the AI's responses, you can confront it with photos that disprove its statements, with the ultimate goal of securing a confession.

Fluff-wise, I remember liking the GLaDOS style quips from the AI, and the slightly creepy experience of floating through a ghost ship while its AI stares at you with its big red eye from the nearest monitor. Art direction is decent enough, and certainly functional. There's a lot of nods to other sci fi stuff. I liked the twist, but I feel that some may not.

If I had to criticize the mechanics I would say that there's only so many relevant pictures, and the subjects of the pictures are (mostly) very conspicuous, so its very possible to brute force the solution. But if you engage with it sincerely I think this game is one of the purest expressions of what a 'detective game' should be.

 

[Jenkem]

I'm surprised that Golden Idol doesn't have its own thread so I made one. Mainly to report that there's apparently a sequel dropping on the 27th.

I'm surprised that Golden Idol doesn't have its own thread so I made one. Mainly to report that there's apparently a sequel dropping on the 27th.

it says a new case is coming, probably as dlc. will it be paid or free? who knows

there is nothing about a "sequel" if there was an actual full-game sequel don't you think they'd have announced it by now?

it says a new case is coming, probably as dlc. will it be paid or free? who knows
there is nothing about a "sequel" if there was an actual full-game sequel don't you think they'd have announced it by now?

I do not. Did you read the article? The devs are weird theatrical guys and what they did is not the move of a slick marketing team. Remember how they promoted their first game? They basically didn't.

Do you remember the title of the first game? In case you forgot, it's called "The CASE of the Golden Idol". If another CASE is coming, what does that imply? An extra snapshot (which you think they would call a CASE for some reason) added as a part of the original CASE? Or would it mean ... not that? Use your head, detective.

Remember how they promoted their first game? They basically didn't.

They participated in a number of next fests, were active on twitter, every other adventure game developer was singing praises of it as well, so I don't doubt that they reached out to tons of game journalists who probably deigned to pass on covering it like Vault Dweller and Colony Ship. The demo was 2 of the cases and on either the first or second next fest so upwards of a year before release and very solid so you would think more press would have been jumping on board with it after that.

Well shit, maybe y'all are right. I still think a new case implies a new game. Maybe 4/27 will just be the first announcement.

 

[Zombra]

A buddy and I just finished Antioch: Scarlet Bay.



This game is ROUGH. Horrible translation, heavy C&C with little to no signposting, a convoluted story and incomprehensible dialogue.

But I really, really liked what it tried to do. It may be worth playing as kind of a study in game design. The co-op is seamless and does a really nice job of keeping both players engaged with alternating choices and direct dialogue between the two characters. The C&C fails to give a sense of agency but you do see a lot of consequences which is impressive. Also the atmosphere is top notch, with moody graphics and a smoky soundtrack.

Moment to moment I found it alternately charming and annoying, but looking back I will definitely remember it with fondness.

 

[Jenkem]

anyone played this? it's not on sale on steam but it is on fanatical.com

 

[Zombra]

anyone played this? it's not on sale on steam but it is on fanatical.com

Read the official thread fool
Shadows of Doubt is awesome, my dream game in a lot of ways, but still very early access. I recommend waiting unless you're the forgiving type when it comes to severe jank.

 

[Jenkem]

Grabbed this in the sale and just played about an hour of it and found it to be quite good. You play as a hacker but there's no real hacking or coding in the game, you essentially "jack in" to other computers via a typing minigame and then have access to their desktop. You are given a set of things to find and have to search through e-mails, websites, etc. in order to get the correct answers. Plays like a desktop simulator version of Case of the Golden Idol essentially. There's a demo for it too but the sale price is a steal IMO.

Also has some fun side stuff like a torrent repository where I downloaded what was essentially a parody of Typing of the Dead but with arithmetic, complete w/ an upgrade system and everything..

 

[Jenkem]

Well, I finished Greyhat.. Took me 7.6 hours according to Steam.. Have a few minor quibbles with the game, but overall I thought it was good, especially for the price. I got stuck on one puzzle and got frustrated because I had missed something vital, was surprised to find out when I started the game again that the puzzle was changed so it seems there are randomized elements (the variables might be randomized but the method/logic of the solution is the same) so that's nice that you can't just look up answers.. There are a few puzzles that are more action-based and not necessarily logical deduction puzzles but those were few and far between. The biggest flaw was the story, not that it was bad, it was decent but some sections (you have fake chat messages in-between cases) felt like they went on a little too long and started to tread water in the middle. Since the puzzles have randomized elements it'd be fun to go through the game again later but the fact you can't skip the story segments makes it kind of a chore, luckily when you finish the game you get an email of all the different IP addresses for each case so you can presumably just go back and play them again if you desire.

All in all I'd say it's definitely worth it for $2 or your regional equivalent if you are into the detective/logical deduction puzzle genre.

 

[anvi]

I was so excited for LA Noire but in reality it tells you what to click and where to go and what to do. Lame. And the characters stupid faces ruin most of the interrogations. Maybe if you are blind it would be hard, but otherwise it's like:

I am telling the truth I swear!

I, uh, I am telling the truth I swears it.

 

[Maxie]

I was so excited for LA Noire but in reality it tells you what to click and where to go and what to do. Lame. And the characters stupid faces ruin most of the interrogations. Maybe if you are blind it would be hard, but otherwise it's like:

I am telling the truth I swear!

I, uh, I am telling the truth I swears it.

I really liked those puzzles where your detective just grabs some random objects and flails it around, peak investigation

 

[Outlander]

L.A. Noire is just for some 40s Los Angeles sightseeing.

 

[Iucounu]

I didn't see Observer in the thread. Might be described as a horrror detective story in a cyberpunk setting. I recall much of the gameplay consisted of straining your eyes while looking for clues in dark corners, interspersed with glaring bright lights.

 

[Zombra]

Y'all this is the hardest game with a detective in it I've played all year.

 

[Zombra]

Has anyone talked about 2000:1 A Space Felony yet? I think it ticks a lot of boxes that people here are looking for, and the only complaints I have is that its a little too easy/short. Still, for the low price of free, its a solid 1 hour romp for anyone who likes games with solid detective mechanics.

By the way I tried this for a minute and it made me tired very quickly. The main gameplay seems to be "looking for clues", which is a very different game from "making sense of the clues". I looked around the whole ship finding little things to click on here and there and add to the clue bank, then went to the big monitor room that shows you all the clues so far and it was like "Great job! You have found 16 out of 400 tiny things to click on." None of the clues implied where to find more clues so I guess the next step is to go back through the whole map all over again and click on things that didn't look interesting the first time, hoping they turn out to be meaningful.

It seems like there may be a neat story here but pixel hunts are not my jam. But thank you rolandstones for suggesting we check it out.

 

[Jenkem]

 

[JarlFrank]

Language-based puzzles huh? Reminds me of Heaven's Vault:

 

[toro]

 

[Zombra]

Anthro games make me feel weird, but looks like there are some interesting mechanics there?

 

[Zombra]

I just tried the demo for Keyword: A Spider's Thread and immediately bought the game. It seems like a fairly linear "search the emails, find the passwords" kind of thing but there are some really neat ideas up front in the demo which I won't spoil. Demo took me about an hour according to Steam? Seemed like a lot less!

I just finished the game and have kind of mixed feelings.
Game time was 4-5 hours for me.

The first 2,5 to 3 hours (which probably include the demo, which I haven't played) were really, really great. The way you got information and hacked your way into the accounts was fun. Of course the "hackings" behave often more like puzzles than realistic hacking procedures - but for this kind of game it was fitting.

Than at some time in late game, when you reveal some special information, suddenly you are thrown into a kind of "dream" sequence (without spoilering anything), which is really strange and doesn't fit the beginning of the game at all IMO.

At the end (besides some easy finishing puzzles), the game introduces a few action events/puzzles with time limits. Normally these wouldn't be a big problem, but the slightly janky controls and the huge area to search make these more annoying than necessary.
Very slight spoiler: Even with the clock ticking, for the final puzzle you have to wait for quite some time, but than only have one or two seconds to react. If you fail, you have to repeat this puzzle with the waiting part again.

TDLR: Not a bad game. Starts great, but then shifts tonally to something different at the end. Ending action puzzles are slightly annoying.
If you are into deciphering clues, search E-Mails, texts and images for information and also sometimes like to think out of the box - this game might still be something for you.

I finally made time for the full game and was riveted to my seat for 4 hours straight. Has some flaws to be sure but I can forgive a few flaws when a game is brilliant, and the ideas here are fresh enough to qualify. Play it, detective fans.

Also, I agree with everything Neuromancer said, but I did spoiler out some stuff above because I found the surprises exhilarating. Play with an open mind and don't look up spoilers. There is a really nice hint system in the game if you need it.

What I can't figure out is how I was supposed to know that a store that sells candy and squirt guns ... does not sell candy and squirt guns.

 

[Zombra]

Wow, and only a couple days after I finally played and enjoyed the first game, a sequel just announced:



COINCIDENCE? Well probably yeah

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Interrogate deadly witnesses? Accidental spoiler I guess.

 

[Jenkem]